


Bad Faith | Doctor Who

by TealrootsG



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: F/F, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-07
Updated: 2018-11-07
Packaged: 2019-08-20 08:32:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16552424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TealrootsG/pseuds/TealrootsG
Summary: This time it's the humans attacking the aliens. It's impossible for the Doctor to choose when she doesn't know which side to defend. However, it becomes clear when the humans start attacking her.-(Thasmin too)(I hate this. It's my worst work yet)





	1. Chapter 1

"Doctor?" Yaz called, walking in to the main console room, hair was tied up, but frayed at the sides, framing her face. There was no concept of day or night in the Tardis, but she'd just woken up so she was counting it as the morning. Her eyes were still fuzzy from sleep, having not quite woken up yet. She skipped up the steps and leaned on the console, doing her best not to yawn.

A hand appeared from the floor, waving. "Down here," then the doctor's blonde hair could be seen. "I was just fixing things . . . I think." She smiled up at the companion as she placed her hands on the grates that made the landing above the heart of the Tardis and yanked herself up. "What do you need?" The Doctor swung her legs over to sit cross legged on the floor, resting her head on her knuckles, her elbow on her knee, still grinning up at Yaz. 

Rolling her eyes half heartedly at her friend's odd behaviour, Yaz dug out her phone from the leather jacket she was wearing, slapping it awkwardly against her palm, not quite sure what to do with herself. "I was just wondering if you have a way of altering my phone so I can text my family, there's no signal in here." 

"Of course there isn't, we're in space," the Time Lord replied, "here." She held her hand out, gesturing for Yaz to give her the phone. Which she did. Withdrawing her sonic screwdriver from her pocket, the Doctor zapped the phone, then handed it back to Yaz. "You will now be able to text freely. Anywhere, anytime. With added WiFi. That's what humans use these days, isn't it?" No matter how many thousands of years she'd spent and spend roaming the universe, always being pulled back to Earth, she'd never understand their customs, their fascinations with electronic devices. 

"Yeah, thanks." Yas beamed, noticing the discomfort draped over the room like a thick blanket. Neither spoke for a while, so Yaz traced the symbols on the controls, circling the console, curiosity sparkling in her brown eyes. 

The Doctor replaced the grid of the floor and brushed off her coat, wiping the dust that had rubbed off on it. She hadn't been down there in a while. It showed. 

Worrying if she was going to overstep a boundary, Yaz was cautious of what she asked next, "what's under here?" Tilting her head, below she could see a dim yellow light dwindle then relight, like matches being struck every few seconds. Gold flowed throughout the console and lit up the Galifreyan writing that was scribbled along the edges of the platform. It was magical, beautiful. Nothing could compare to this new alien technology, nothing in her life was going to compare to the amazing adventures she was bound to experience.

"The heart of the tardis," the Time Lord responded, "she's not working as good as she used to. Although she gets us where we need to be . . . I'm really not complaining. I love her all the same." She smiled fondly at the Tardis, still enjoying the newness of its regeneration. Everything had burned and formed from ashes. Overall, the Tardis had a warmer feel to it, a welcoming one. Home.

Instantly Yaz felt out of place, she hadn't known the blue box was alive. Did it have its own consciousness? Thoughts? Was it watching them? "That's . . . wow . . . " She trailed off, having trouble gathering the words. Luckily, Graham and Ryan strolled in at the right time. The tension between them was obvious, neither completely comfortable with one another. 

"Hey, guys." The Doctor waved, a smile illuminating her face. Yaz caught herself staring and made a big show of turning away to fiddle with the controls again. 

"What's up, Doc?" Graham greeted, using the handrail to guide himself around the room. Not that he needed it, it was just that he wasn't used to the Tardis and holding on to the rails felt safer.

The Time Lord furrowed her brows and glanced up, confused. 

Ryan shook his head, chuckling quietly. "Its a saying." He told her, climbing in between the rails, sitting on the bottom one, curling his fingers around the top one, he leaned back a swung from side to side gently.

"Oh!" The Doctor's smile returned, "learn something new everyday. I'm sorry. Still not familiar with those kinds of things." She laughed off the embarrassment.

"By the way, it's also a fantastic film." Graham continued, forgetting momentarily that she would have no idea what he was on about.

"What is?" He was right. 

"What's up, Doc." He explained, fond of the comedy. 

This only puzzled her more, her face screwing a bit in mild concentration. "Didn't you just ask me that?" 

"Okay, that's enough of that." Ryan sighed, clapping his hands together and regretting that action as he let go, nearly fell backwards off the railings. 

"Right, yes, sorry. Where would you all like to go?" She spun around, almost dancing, flicking switches, pulling leavers and pushing buttons. Yaz almost joined in with her enthusiasm, but she felt her cheeks burn red instead and decided to remain watching.

"Literally anywhere's fine with me." Yaz shrugged, darting her eyes from console to Doctor, console to Doctor. 

"Same here." Ryan added. 

"I wouldn't object to seeing what the future looks like." Graham suggested, searching around for a chair to be disappointed when there wasn't one. Well, standing it is. 

By seconds, as the Doctor was going to pull one final leaver to send them sailing, the Tardis jerked, hurling them all at the floor. Eyes widening, realising he wasn't in a safe place, Ryan swung down from the railings, landing with a thud on two feet. He rushed over to one of the crystals in the centre of the room, it seemed sturdier than anything else. Yaz took note from him and held on to one herself, sat down though so she wouldn't slip. Graham tightened his grip on the railing. 

"What's the bloody hell is going on?" He shouted over the whirring of the Tardis. 

"Honestly, I'm not sure!" The Doctor called from the other side of the room, wondering if anyone could actually hear her. It was a cacophony. A strange, deep noise erupted from the Tardis, definitely non-human. "That can't be good." The Doctor grabbed a monitor, yanking it towards her. "I was right. I hate it when I'm right sometimes." 

"What's wrong?" Ryan questioned,his voice lost in the racket. What could possibly be making the Tardis behave like this, he wondered. 

Because Yaz was closer to the Doctor, she repeated Ryan's worries. 

Debating in her head whether to tell them or not, the Doctor frowned, eyes full of panic. "Uhm... well..." she raised her voice, "the engines are failing!" She yelled, receiving frightened, terror struck gasps from the gang.

"What?" Yaz exclaimed. "They can't fail! They can't!" 

Graham was lost to all of this, he couldn't hear any of them, but the afraid expressions they wore were enough to tell him things were horribly wrong.

"The Tardis will latch on to the nearest planet! We should be fine. Maybe." She kept the last words to herself.  

"Which is?" Ryan hollered, doing ones utmost to be heard over the roars of the Tardis. 

Unexpectedly, sparks flew from the console, singeing the Doctor's knuckles but she refused to let go. They would just have to burn her. Wincing, she gritted her teeth as sparks sprinkled in a shower above her head, searing her skin. Yaz used the crystal as a shield, Ryan copying. 

The Time Lord drew in deep breaths, "come on, my beautiful ghost monument, what's the matter?"

Suddenly, the Tardis jolted and the laws of gravity seemed to turn upside down. Yaz, Graham and Ryan's feet were lifted from the floor, all of them hanging on with all the strength they had. Even though there was no wind, it felt like a huge gail was blowing them away. Yaz wrapped her arm around to get a better grip, her fingers became numb. Then, a sinking feeling lodged itself in her chest . . . the Doctor. 

"Doctor!" She yelled over the noise, eyes scanning the room frantically, through the smoke, sparks, fire and flames. "Doctor!" Her worry enlarged by a considerable amount. Where was she?

"Over there!" Graham attempted, his breath stolen by the force of everything. Imagine hands squeezing your lungs, that was what it came across as. A terrible torture.

I hope she's okay, Yaz thought desperately. It was barely a week since they met but she couldn't stand losing her. Not like this. She wished it would be over now, so she could search for their missing friend. 

"Brace for impact!" Ryan screamed, throat raw, he'd caught a glimpse of the monitor, a warning flashing constantly. Each time it did, anxiety built up in his chest.

They were about to crash. 

"Oh . . . shit." He murmured. And he knew he spoke for everyone.


	2. Chapter 2

Through the wreckage, Yaz could just about make out the silhouette of Ryan, who was currently lying on the floor against the wall -he'd been thrown across the room when they'd landed. As for Graham, Yaz could see him as the smoke began to clear. Rushing over, she offered her hand to him. "Need any help?" A pause. 

"Go one then." Graham extended his hand and they locked fingers, Yaz pulling him up carefully. 

"Anything broken? All okay?" 

"I wouldn't say all is okay, but for the majority, I'm fine." He smiled unconvincingly, sharing a joke to lighten the mood. "We really need some chairs in here. This empty space isn't gonna sit right with me." Walking over to the console, he leaned back against it, steadying himself. 

Nodding in agreement, Yaz trudged over to Ryan. Although he seemed to be doing just super on his own. "Need any help?" She teased.

"Nah, I'm not an old man." Ryan shot a look at Graham. Neither could decide whether it was a sly insult or a joke. "I'm messing with you. Come on, crack a smile. I'd like to think I'm hilarious-" 

"Keep thinking that," Yaz slapped his arm playfully, letting silence settle in the room.

The Tardis kept whirring, but quietly now, as if it'd cast aside the strength to carry on crying for help. Slowly, Yaz did a 360 of the place, searching for their friend. "Anyone know where the Doctor is?" Both shook their heads in response. Sighing, Yaz wandered around the room, to the dark corners and everything, even lifting the grates to check. 

"You don't think she's left us, do you?" Ryan suggested, causing doubt to course through their minds, except Yaz's.

"No." She stated firmly, "the Doctor has saved our lives before, she's always been there for us. Why would she leave now?" To be honest, Yaz didn't think they gave the Time Lord enough credit. 

Graham and Ryan both remained silent. She was right. Surely the Doctor wouldn't leave. Not in this moment of crisis. Going towards the entrance to the corridors, Ryan spoke up, "I'm going to lie down for a bit." That said, he exited the room, but Graham told him to wait, so they could both explore the never-ending corridors for their rooms. Yaz understood, however she decided to wait for the Doctor to return, wherever she was.

-

During her time alone in the Tardis, Yaz had scanned every possible surface of the console room -the crystals, the numerous buttons, switches and the one leaver, which had Galifreyan written all over it, symbols and scribbles. 

As Yaz was about to give up hope, the Doctor barged in from a door non of them had ever noticed. She was holding a similar crystal to the ones towering over the console, her hair was tangled, what was oil seemed to be smothered on one cheek to her neck and her clothes were dirty too, her coat torn. The Time Lord's chest heaved with deep, laboured breaths as she tried to talk, the words wouldn't come, only moans of pain as she held one hand to her chest. Something didn't feel right about her hearts. Though she'd never let on about it. 

"Doctor!" Yaz yelled with surprise, hurrying over to her, concern laced through her features. "Where were you? What on Earth have you been doing? We thought you'd gone. Why did you go after the crash? What-"

Suddenly, the Tardis whirred again, much louder this time, causing Yaz to cover her ears. "What is that?" She mouthed. A loud booming ended the whirring. Nothing sounded good. She wondered how Ryan and Graham were sleeping through such a racket.

The Doctor gestured for her to come closer and when she did she put her hands on her shoulders, studying her face. "Are you okay?" 

Yaz nodded. "You?" 

"Of course," she smiled, patting the companion's shoulder as she passed, running up to the console. Her mind raced with all sorts of things, ideas and doubts. Mostly doubts.

Following the Doctor, Yaz wasn't totally convinced she was okay. "You sure?" Checking, getting a brief nod in reply. 

The Time Lord was too focused on fixing whatever was wrong. She leaned back against one of the giant crystals, holding a smaller one in her hand. "The new heart of the Tardis." She admired it, twirling it in her fingers. 

Yaz went over for a closer inspection. "Its smaller then I imagined." 

"Well, it's not actually . . . I transferred the heart in to this so I could carry it around to make sure it doesn't go black. The Tardis is . . . broken and she'll need at least a full day to recharge, to repair herself. Although we can't stay here the whole time, might as well explore -hence the transfer." The Doctor smiled triumphantly, tossing it, catching it, putting it in her pocket. "Also, where the rest of our gang? Ryan and Graham, I mean." 

"Oh, those two," Yaz rolled her eyes, "they've gone for a lie down." 

"Let's go wake them up." The Doctor replied, almost grabbing Yaz's hand but quickly shoving her's in a pocket of her long coat, she didn't want Yaz to reject her. So it was best not to try at all.

\- 

On the way to the other companion's rooms, the two friends stayed in a comfortable silence. Neither felt the need to talk, and anyway, they had too much going on in both of their minds to keep up a conversation. 

Ryan bumped in to them as they rounded a corner, "oh, hi, we were just coming to get you." Yaz explained. 

"I can't find the bathroom," he confessed, "I swear I've been looking for hours." 

"Sorry about that, she doesn't get much for entertainment the days." The Doctor smiled, somewhat sadly. "Anyway, know where Graham is?"

"In his room." Ryan answered. The Doctor walked ahead of them in the halls while Yaz and Ryan stayed back a bit, whispering.

"So . . . you found her? What was she doing? What's wrong with the Tardis?" 

Sighing, Yaz rubbed her eyes, tired. "Yes. Don't know. Not sure, but she said that the Tardis is broken and'll need time to mend itself." 

"Okay . . ." He mumbled, processing it. 

\- 

They retrieved Graham, got lost in the corridors -the Doctor insisted she knew where they were, but she obviously hadn't-, finally located the console room and they all sat around by one of the crystals in a small circle. The Doctor was leaning back against the crystal, her knees up to her chest, eyes nearly closing and she had to force them open every few seconds. The rest were sitting cross legged, well, apart from Graham who was sat on a chair the Time Lord had retrieved for him. 

Currently, they were taking a vote. 

"Alright," Ryan clasped his hands together in his lap, "who votes we explore where we are?" Yaz's hand shot up, not being able to contain her interest anymore. They could be somewhere alien. Ryan raised his hand. "Come on, Graham, it might be in the future. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink. You said yourself you wanted to go to the future. Might be flying cars in the sky." He coaxed, attempting to make it sound as fun as possible, like they hadn't just crashed in to nowhere. 

Folding his arms over his chest, Graham shook his head defiantly. "No way. I am not going out there when the Tardis is . . ." He gestured around him at the desolation. "If we need to escape or something, I don't want our ticket out of here to be unavailable. It's best we stay here and not cause trouble."

"Who says we were gonna cause trouble?" Yaz defended. 

"Every time we go travelling, something goes wrong-" 

"That doesn't mean it's always our fault!" Ryan huffed, shooting daggers at Graham, who knew he was kidding and didn't mean it, really. 

Yaz turned her head to face the Doctor, ponytail whipping, "Come on, back us up on this." She nudged the Time Lord gently with her elbow, a cheeky grin plastered across her face. 

However, the Doctor seemed totally out of it and didn't even notice. Her head was rolled to the side, eyes blurred as she stared at the same spot and her brain didn't fully register that someone was talking. 

"Hey," Yaz crawled over to sit in the Doctor's line of vision, tucking her blonde hair behind her ear so she could see her face. "Hey, Doctor." She whispered softly. 

Taking a deep breath, the Time Lord switched her gaze to Yaz and managed a faint smile. "Hey, what do you need?" 

"We were just voting on whether to go outside or not . . . you seem pretty tired though, so . . . your call . . . or you could stay here and we can go out. Promise not to get in to trouble." She chuckled slightly, earning a wider smile from the Doctor. 

"Oh, no, no, I'll come too, it's fine, I'm not tired." She insisted, rambling a little. "Everyone else coming? Ryan? Graham?" 

Of course, Ryan nodded. But Graham shook his head. "I'm gonna remain inside the safety of the marvellous blue box." 

"Okay, if you get bored there's a library," She counted on her fingers, biting her lip in concentration, which Yaz found highly distracting, "a kitchen and dining area if you get hungry, a games room, a tv . . . sorry, that's all I can remember right now." 

"It's fine, Doc. I'll wander the library." Graham got up, exchanged goodbyes, then walked off to the corridors. 

"Looks like it's just us three." The Doctor chimed cheerfully. 

"Yeah." Yaz rose, holding her hand out for the Doctor, who accepted and hauled herself up, swaying for a moment, black dots spotting her vision. "You okay?"

"Of course, tough as nails, I am." The Time Lord eagerly danced to the door, pausing and looking back at the others. "Let's get a shift on." 

"I swear," Yaz started, glancing at Ryan, "she is a literal puppy sometimes." 

"Yup." Ryan snickered. 

Together, they yanked open the double doors and stepped out.


	3. Chapter 3

The ground beneath their feet was familiar, very. Massive buildings toward over them, so tall they were unsettling, vehicles zoomed past, blowing their hair back along with the Doctor's long coat. The concrete they stood on was dotted with puddles, they were stood in one themselves, but it didn't matter. As the Tardis doors closed behind them, they realised where they were and disappointment hung over them. 

"Oh," Ryan said flatly, "we're on Earth." 

"That's a huge let down. All this trouble with the Tardis and we end up on Earth." The Doctor sighed, placing her hands on her hips. She felt that pain in her chest again, like someone was squeezing the life out of it, her heart clenched and she doubled over, her mouth open with disbelief of how much it hurt. 

"Doctor?" Yaz bent over too, putting a comforting -or so she hoped- hand on her back. "What's wrong?" 

Ignoring the pain, the Time Lord straightened up, waving her hand dismissively. "Oh, nothing. Just felt weird for a moment. Nothing to worry about. Come on let's get a shift on." They left the topic quickly, Yaz and Ryan hardly daring to bring it up again. They thought it was best to let the Doctor have her privacy, although, Yaz was going to do something about it if it got worse than that. Whatever 'it' was. 

"Keep up." The Doctor called behind her, the companions jogged to catch up and fell in to stride. "Any idea what city we're in?" 

Yaz and Ryan glanced around, taking in their surroundings. To her left, Yaz could only see skyscrapers, office buildings, shops, cafes and restaurants. It was exactly like the rest of the planet. Though Ryan knew exactly where they were. "We're in London!" He cheered. "Man, I love this place." 

"London?" The Doctor repeated curiously. "I've been here a lot, the Tardis always seems drawn to this part of the world in particular . . . Anyone fancy a drink?" 

"Sure." Yaz smiled. Maybe this was going to be a normal day, eating out with her one of her favourite people . . . and Ryan. No monsters. No criminals trying to change history. No weird spaceships. No aliens. Well, except the alien next to them. 

"Definitely." Ryan replied, pointing to a cafe across the street. Receiving confirmation from both friends, they crossed the road and huddled in, indulging in the smell of cakes and coffee. 

The Doctor paused before going to the counter, "I haven't got any cash. Empty pockets." She frowned, pulling them inside out. "Except for the heart of the Tardis though, and I really can't pay with that." 

"I might." Ryan dug in his jeans pockets, coming up with a few pounds and fifty pence. "This could buy us . . . a muffin . . . or . . . a-" he glanced at the displays "-coffee, or two cold drinks." 

Yaz looked at the Doctor, who met her eyes, smiling, "I don't mind." 

"You two get drinks for yourselves, I'll find a table." The Doctor wandered off, remembering details about everything she laid her gaze on. In a new body, the universe was new too, so she took in the smell, humans that were sat enjoying themselves, random pictures hung up on the beige walls, the sound of chatter all merging in to one huge noise. At the end of the cafe, she spotted a vacant corner and sat down on a wooden chair. Resting her elbows on the surface of the table, head in her hands, she scanned the room until her eyes found Yaz and Ryan as they finished ordering and joined her. 

"Oh," Ryan sighed, there were only two chairs. He set the bottles down and pulled a seat over. 

"Isn't it lovely here?" The Doctor marvelled, making Yaz smile with her curiosity and awe. 

"Its just . . . normal human every day life." Ryan said, taking a swig of his drink. 

The Doctor looked back and forth between the companions and the bustling cafe. "I know, but your lives are so simple. I don't mean that in a bad way. It must be nice to relax." 

They both nodded, "sometimes life gets boring, there's only so much you can do with so little money." Yaz added, drinking from a straw.

"You're with me now, I think, at least until you'd want to go home," the Time Lord smiled, "we can go anywhere in the universe." 

Yaz smiled too, failing to express in words how much she appreciated the Doctor, how thankful she was that she'd let them travel in the Tardis.

-

It was a whole hour they'd spent chatting in the cafe and because they'd arrived so late in the evening on Earth, the sky was now black, inking the streets with shadows. Lights illuminated the pavements. It was late so Yaz had suggested returning to the Tardis for the night, which the other two agreed to. 

The Doctor grabbed Yaz's arm, tugging on her sleeve like an excitable child, "look, it's so cute." She exclaimed, not giving any warning as she ran up to a dog on the street, a Labrador to be exact. Yaz was worried it was going to growl or bite. Fortunately, the dog greeted the Doctor like an old friend and as the Doctor crouched down to stroke it, the dog jumped up at her, paws on the Doctor's shoulders. 

"Hello," she grinned, "what's your name?" 

Yaz watched from a distance at first like Ryan, however she grew interested when it seemed the Time Lord and the dog were having a conversation. 

She tapped her shoulder, "What are you doing? How . . ." Yaz didn't know what to say. 

"I speak dog." 

Ryan scoffed, "yeah, right."

"I do." The Doctor pouted for a second, quickly returning to a smile. Though that faded too when the dogs owner came back and shot her a dirty look. "What did I do?" 

"Some people don't like strangers around their pets." Yaz explained. Sighing, the Doctor got up, linking arms with Yaz, patted Ryan's arm to let him know they were going and continued towards the Tardis. 

-

Furrowing her brow, the Time Lord grew confused, then worried. 

"Where's the Tardis? It was right here." Ryan questioned, thinking the dreaded assumptions of everyone else. "Has it gone with out us? Graham was on board!" When the Doctor didn't answer, he got impatient. "Doctor!" 

"I don't know!" She scowled. "I know as much as you do right now." 

Yaz smiled nervously, "let's just all not yell at each other . . . yeah?" 

"I'm not yelling." Ryan defended, crossing his arms over his chest. 

"I can call Graham, okay?" Yaz suggested. 

"Uhm . . . actually . . . no, you can't." The Time Lord frowned, running her fingers through her hair. Truthfully, she had no idea what to do. Knowing the companions were probably going to start hating her for that was an uneasy thought. 

"What do you mean 'can't'?" Ryan spoke up after a minutes silence. Tension between the two of them built up by the second. 

"I'm sorry." The Doctor put as much sincerity in to it as possible. "I do have a tracking device on the Tardis that I can reach with my sonic, I can find her with it." 

"Thank God." Ryan let go of a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding.

Placing her hands on the Doctor's shoulders, Yaz tried to make eye contact, but she kept darting her eyes away. "Its going to be fine." Yaz comforted, surprised at her confidence. 

Suddenly, her surroundings weren't in focus, burning behind the eyes and she had to grip on to Yaz's arm to steady herself. It felt as if her lungs had been closed up, breathing becoming increasingly difficult. The pain in her chest doubled. In the haze of it all, the Doctor could hear someone shouting her name, though it sounded like they were speaking from under water. Eventually, her eyes closed as she collapsed, falling in to Yaz's arms. 

They were in the middle of London down a dark alley way, what were they supposed to do? Ryan took one of the Doctor's arms, draping it over his shoulder. Yaz did the same. Together they carried her out of the shadows, carefully sitting her down against a wall of the alley. The two companions followed next, slouching either side of her. 

"This is wonderful." Yaz said, sarcasm dripping from her comment. 

"Tell me about it." Ryan replied, scratching the back of his head. "Shall we wake her up? Let her rest? Get mugged in a dark alley? Wait to find the Tardis? Call an ambulance? Anyone?" 

"No hospitals, she's an alien, remember? I don't want to think of what would happen if they got her DNA. They'd cart her off somewhere and conduct experiments." Yaz rubbed her eyes, not wanting to believe they were in this situation. 

As they say there, staring off in to space, the world buzzed around them. Drunken strangers would tell at each other, mobs of teenagers and people in their early twenties would swagger past. Yet, they were both surprised they hadn't been jumped. Occasionally, the Doctor would mumble in her sleep, not making a spit of sense. 

-

Shocking them both, finally, after hours and hours, the Doctor woke up with a start, grabbing one of each of their arms, waking them up too. She groaned in pain, putting a hand to her chest, which burned and ached, somehow worse than a regeneration. 

"Oh my god," Yaz smiled, "you're awake." Her grin faltered, morphing in to concern. "Are you okay? You nearly scared me to death." 

Nodding, the Doctor struggled to stand, swaying. Ryan hopped up, getting ready to catch her if she fainted again. Yaz rose, looking in to the Doctor's eyes. "What's the matter? You need to tell us what's going on." 

The Time Lord hesitated, "alright, well . . . uhm .  . . when I stole her, the Tardis, or as she likes to say, when she stole me, we formed a connection, bonded us together . . . if she dies, I do too." She reached for the crystal in her pocket, gripping it tight until her knuckles turned white. The crystal was glowing a dark yellow. "She's in pain. The Tardis is in pain. We really need to find her." The Doctor dug out her sonic screwdriver, scanning the crystal with it and taking the readings. It took a while, but the location finally did show, along with a name the Doctor dreaded.

"Torchwood." She growled.


	4. Chapter 4

"Torchwood?" Yaz furrowed her brow. "What's Torchwood?" 

"An organization." The Doctor sighed deeply, tucking her hair away from her face, putting the crystal safely back in her pocket. "It started years ago when I saved Queen Victoria from a werewolf . . . but years before that, I married Queen Elizabeth. By accident. Time travel, always confusing." She trailed off, staring up at the black sky. 

Ryan cocked his head, "hold on. You were married to Queen Elizabeth?" 

"By accident!" She defended. "Although . . . it could have been a Zygon . . . wow, I might be married to a Zygon. Isn't that weird?" 

"Excuse me, what?" Yaz gaped in disbelief. "You're . . ?" 

"Yes, well, maybe, not technically . . . I'm not sure if anyone else apart from me, me and me knew about it. Clara might have-" 

"Doctor!" Ryan interrupted, reminding her that Graham and the Tardis were in danger. 

"Right, yes, sorry, drifted off on a tangent." She gestured for them to follow, walking out on to the deserted street. A gust of wind blew their hair in to their faces, though Ryan was fine with his short hair. The Time Lord checked her sonic screwdriver again, beginning to head towards were it was leading them. 

Even though it may have been thousands of years ago, Yaz couldn't understand the fact the Doctor was married. And to a Queen? "Does that make you royalty?" She asked, having to almost jog to keep up with the Doctor's strides. 

"Does what make me what?" Her mind was racing, making it impossible to concentrate properly. It used a lot of energy.

"Does it make you a Queen? Having been married to Elizabeth?" 

Stopping in her tracks, the Doctor's mouth fell open a little, then morphed in to an eye crinkling grin. "Oh, I suppose it does." Then her smile faded and she returned to the task at hand, trying not to ramble on to a tangent.

"Cool." Ryan commented, wrapping his jacket around himself at the cold night air.

For some reason, it made Yaz uncomfortable. But she brushed it off and chose to ignore it as they carried on in the lamp light with the occasional passing car. Every road had a twist or some sort of confusing back alley they had to go down. Either way, it took a hell of a long time to get to Torchwood. Yaz had to crane her head back to see the top of the tower. It was at least over 100 stories high and the sun was beginning to rise above it.

"Its magnificent," Yaz said, turning to the Doctor, who had a sad and angry expression on her face. "What's up?" 

Putting a finger on Yaz's lips to get her to be quiet -which earned a raised eyebrow from the companion, and also one from Ryan-, the Time Lord used her free hand to withdraw a wallet from an inside pocket. "Psychic paper . . . I've got a message." Her face lit up, indicating she didn't get many. 

I've found your Tardis, Doctor x 

"Who puts a kiss at the end of a message?" Ryan furrowed his brows. "Are you married to another royal? A king maybe? A princess you rescued from a tower?" 

"Don't be ridiculous. Anyway, I have a hunch of who it might be." The Doctor smiled fondly, hoping her guess was correct, stuffing the wallet in to her pocket again. "Onwards." 

Yaz realised the Doctor hadn't removed her finger until they began walking and she actually did. "Who do you think it is?" 

"A very, very old friend of mine. Our time lines are mixed up though, she gets younger as I get older. But she has a diary where it's all written down and knows when were going to cross paths, keeping me in the dark. I never have any clue. That's if she doesn't write some elaborate note on a pyramid or something. She has her ways." 

"Sounds . . . frustrating." Yaz frowned, those two sounded like they had a hell of a history. 

"Keeps me on my toes." The Doctor abruptly halted outside before they could cross the road. "You know . . . the first time I met her she died." 

Neither of the companions knew how to response to that, so they remained silent, sharing a look that read 'I don't know.' 

"That's enough about that." The Time Lord sniffed, refusing to cry over memories and a guess that could be totally wrong. Taking a deep breath, she motioned for them to follow and they all strolled up to the glass doors, opening them to be greeted by a woman behind a desk in the lobby. 

"Hello," The Doctor smiled, lacing her tone with an exaggerated kindness, "I'm here for health and safety." 

"Will these two be accompanying you?" The woman asked, already seemingly bored as she tapped her pen on the desk. 

"Of course. Can't miss a thing with health and safety, need extra pairs of eyes." The Time Lord lied right through her teeth, surprising Yaz. Ryan just nodded and smiled unnaturally, attempting to look convincing. 

"I need to see ID." 

The Doctor flashed the psychic paper in a heartbeat, hastily returning it to her inside pocket. 

The woman rolled her eyes, narrowly convined. "Go on down." 

The three smirked internally, heading towards the lift. 

What they didn't know was that the woman had been told to watch out for the Doctor, even with a brand new body, they'd told her to watch out for psychic paper. The woman had been specially trained to see right through it. Smirking successfully, she picked up a phone on her left, dialing. "You were right," her smirk increased, seeing them enter the lift, "the Doctor came. She's on her way and she's brought some new friends." 

"She?" 

"Oh, yes." After informing the ones below, she fell back in to her boring job, slouching. 

-

"Are you sure about this?" Ryan asked for what felt like the thirteenth time in the space of five minutes. 

The Time Lord had constantly replied with 'yes,' but as the fifteenth floor down got nearer, doubts started kicking in. "Actually, not really." 

"Excuse me?" Yaz shouted in a whisper. "We could be heading to our deaths?" 

"No, but I told you if you signed up for this I couldn't guarantee your absolute safety." Instantly, she felt guilty, meeting Yaz's scared eyes. "Yaz, I promise," she placed her hands on her shoulders, getting to face her properly, "I promise I will do everything to keep both of you safe. It'll be my top priority." 

As if on cue, the lift doors pinged open to a large opening in between high stacks of strange technology. Alien. Things the Time Lord recognised, others she didn't. A vehicle drove past at the end where the opening split in to two, manoeuvring a huge piece of spacecraft.

The Doctor stepped forwards, going towards a metal head, which had symmetrical circles for eyes a tear carved at each side, a slit for a mouth and a headband of steel from one ear to the other. 

"What is that thing?" Ryan squinted his eyes at it, prodding the material with his finger. Yaz peered over the Doctor's shoulder. 

"Its a Cyberman." She answered, turning it over in her hands. "Someone has a hobby." 

Heels clicked on the concrete, becoming louder and louder, echoing through the underground warehouse. "Indeed, I do." It was a woman's voice, sharp and commanding. 

The Time Lord chucked the Cyberman head back in to the pile of alien technology. "You shouldn't have all of this. It's wrong. The human race isn't ready." 

"But we are." The woman stopped, arms folded menacingly across her chest. "This could change the world-" 

"That is my point." The Doctor scowled, standing in the middle of the opening, directly opposite the stranger. "Where did you get all of this stuff? Must have taken years, decades, centuries to collect . . . Though it won't take long for me to send it back-" 

"I won't let you. If it's alien, it's ours." The woman snapped, four men carrying guns appearing out of nowhere on either side of her. "Including your precious Tardis . . . including you."


	5. Chapter 5

This cannot be happening, Yaz thought. Staring at the stranger in horror, she felt that sinking feeling again, though this time worse, much worse. The words scratched at her throat as she tried calling out to the Doctor, keeping her quiet. 

Ryan took a look around their surroundings, searching in the piles of space junk for a weapon of some sort. A gun, bomb, sword, knife, anything. Unfortunately, all he could see were used, battered parts of ships, robots, cyborgs and androids. "Crap." He muttered under his breath. Then he spotted something out of the corner of his eye. A slight smirk tugged at his lips, eyes sparkling with curiosity. 

The Time Lord shook her head. "Don't threaten me. Don't even think about it . . . because you know what? There is one thing you should never, ever put in a trap." 

"Oh?" The woman scoffed, waving her hand, motioning for the armed men to advance. "And what's that?" 

Grinning almost manically, the Doctor spun around, zapping the controls with her sonic screwdriver and grabbed Yaz's hand, which, in reflex, grabbed Ryan's. They all rushed in to the lift when the doors opened, the Doctor stood at the front, glaring at the woman. "Me." With that, the doors closed, just in time as the gun fire started. 

"That was close . . . that was close." Yaz said in between breaths. "You really did that last minute." 

"Hey," the Time Lord surrendered, "I got you out didn't I? I promised." 

Triumphantly, Ryan held up a weapon he'd nicked. "Look what I got. I can use it to fight." He examined it in his hands, not sure where the trigger was. It was a flashy silver, red carvings tracing the edges and made out of a weird material Ryan couldn't name. Overall though, it might've passed as a regular human weapon.

The Doctor snatched it off of him, scowling, "no guns." 

"But how are we supposed to defend ourselves? They're out there with flippin' machine guns and whatever, and what have we got? A screwdriver." The most calmly annoyed expression plastered itself across his face. "I'm gonna need some sort of protection." 

Yaz could almost see the tension. So she shrank backwards, out of sight and watched it unravel. Uneasy eye contact and ultimate glares. After moments of anticipation, at last, the Doctor gave in, reluctantly. 

"Fine," she huffed, thrusting it back in to his hands, "but you keep it on safety and do not use unless we're in mortal danger. Got it?" 

Nodding, Ryan was overcome with excitement. A gun. And it was his. To use. To fight. It was how he imagined himself in a video game. 

-

It seemed like forever they were in the lift and as soon as the doors pinged open, the Doctor rushed out, companions dashing in her footsteps. 

The woman at the desk in the lobby from earlier was slouched back, feet up on the desk. She seemed to be delighted in observing the game.  

Suddenly a deafening alarm sounded, pausing them in their tracks. "Oh no. . ." The Doctor whispered to herself more than anyone, "this cannot be good." Loud rattling followed the alarms, clattering down the windows, doors and any other exits. "Really not good." 

Turning around, watching themselves being trapped like rats in a cage, their hopes began to falter. Twinges of fright and fear digging its way in to their thumping hearts.

Eyes widening, Yaz felt ten times smaller. No way out. "Have they put us on lockdown?" 

"Yup." Ryan deadpanned, readying the gun, practising holding it right in case he needed it -which by their previous experiences, he would.

Yaz went to ask the Doctor what to do, but she'd already ran off, attempting to open the double doors on lockdown with her sonic screwdriver. "Agh," she sighed, taking the readings, "they've included alien tech in the design. Ultimate lockdown. Very clever. Not very useful to us at the moment, though."

Once the companions were stood behind her, she turned to them, "any dazzling ideas?" 

Just then a stampeding noise started clouding around the three. "We need to go," Yaz worried, fiddling with the zip on her leather jacket, "hide or something." 

The Doctor smiled, grabbing Yaz's hand as Ryan kept checking behind them with his gun aimed high. Luckily, they managed to duck in to the stair well before gun fire started pounding at their heels. The walls were a blinding white, shockingly little dirt on the steps and huge windows were set at each floor -now covered up with barred metal sheets. The Time Lord zapped the lock, assuring no one could barge in that way for a while. "That should bide us a few extra minutes." 

"Have you got a plan?" Yaz questioned hopefully, her eyes bright with excitement, despite the current danger. She was well aware of the fact the Doctor hadn't let go of her hand, but she didn't mind, finding it comforting. 

"I will have . . . soon, maybe, probably . . . I should stop talking, I'm making it worse." She frowned, biting her lip -if it weren't for the present circumstances, Yaz would have been distracted- as she craned her neck to see the top of the staircase and the bottom. "Up or down?" She asked herself, tapping her fingers on up the railings in thought, weighing the pros and cons of each choice. 

"I don't want to hurry you, but hurry up!" Ryan panicked, hearing Torchwood approach, next thing he knew, the door was being rapped on vigorously by fists and butts if guns. 

"Okay, really hurry up." Yaz clenched her teeth, her muscles tensing. 

"I'm trying, I'm trying, you can't rush brilliance, you know." The Doctor snapped, later apologising. "It's the pressure." She sighed, running her fingers through her hair. "Alright . . . the Tardis will most likely be down underground, it's safer and more secure, although they could think I'd think that and put it up on the top floor . . ." 

The lock on the door began to break and she just shrugged, hesitantly deciding upstairs was best and pulled Yaz along with her, tightening her grip somewhat. It hurt a little, Yaz noticed, but didn't mind too much, their lives were more important. 

On an unfortunate cue, the lock cracked, letting out a swarm of armed men and woman, all charging to get through. On the bright side, their haste meant sacrifice and many people tripped over one another, causing a blockage. Instantly, Ryan fired his weapon and tried to aim for anyone and everyone. A few went down, though mostly he just hit the walls, leaving scorch marks. Lasers, he pondered, cool.

"Oops." He mumbled with no meaning to it. 

The Doctor and Yaz stopped, peering over the railings at Ryan, who was now a flight below. "Come on!" She encouraged, gesturing for him to forget about it and run. 

Edging up the steps, Ryan was abruptly made weaponless as the gun failed to function anymore. "Oh . . . shit." Throwing it at a man who had managed to push through the crowd, Ryan felt proud at his semi successful shooting. Quickly, he darted up the stairs, stumbling over his own feet, legs shaking with adrenaline. 

"Good one." Yaz commented, her grin morphing in to a frown. Someone had crept up on Ryan. "Hurry." She held her hand out for him, he reached for it to only then be yanked down by two pairs of hands and he was swallowed in to the crowd. "No, Ryan!"

The Doctor wrapped her arms around Yaz's waist to stop her from going after him. "It's too late." She said sadly, attempting to get her to comply so they could at least ascend. "Come on, we'll come back for him, we will. But for now I have to keep you safe." 

Giving in, nodding, Yaz agreed and let out a deep breath, allowing the Doctor to guide her the rest of the way. The Time Lord didn't dare drop Yaz's hand in case she lost her too. remaining in silence, passing floor after floor, getting ahead of Tochwood with every stride. 

Eventually, the stair case ended, they were at the top, one hundred floors from the roads, pedestrians, cars and bikers. The view consisted of concrete buildings huddled together, forming London, in the distance, a huge park filled space with greenery and trees. 

"If only I could teleport." The Doctor thought aloud, letting go of Yaz's hand, much to her disappointment. 

"You promised you'd keep us safe and you've abandoned Ryan?" Yaz exclaimed, taking all her anger out on the only other life form around, besides the rapidly rising tide of gunned men and women. 

Withdrawing the sonic screwdriver from her coat pocket, the Doctor clicked open the door to the top floor and held it ajar for her friend, who kept her head down, walking fast.

Rows upon rows of office cubicles greeted them, grey walls, bland carpets, black chairs. It'd be like any normal workspace if it wasn't for the alien tech beneath their facade. Such an uplifting environment. 

"I didn't abandon him, I was saving you." The Doctor explained, trying to meet Yaz's eyes, but Yaz avoided her gaze. "I did promise I would keep you both safe, and I will, they won't kill Ryan I can assure you."

Sighing, Yaz folded her arms, leaning back against the wall, knowing she was giving the Doctor a hard time so she softened her tone. "How do you know they won't?" 

Lowering her head, looking at the companion through her hair that'd fallen over her eyes, she smiled for a split second, frowning for the rest. "Because they don't need him, they want me." Clearing her throat, she coughed. "Plus, Graham is alright in the Tardis, nothing can get through those doors. Not even another Time Lord if they still existed . . ." Her voice trailed off and she turned dramatically, enjoying the swish of the long coat behind her. "Anyway, we still have this." The Doctor whipped the wallet out of her pocket, flipping it open to the psychic paper. 

"Do you know who your message is from yet?" Yaz caught up with her, matching her pace as they ventured around the maze of identical desks. 

"Nope, I just have a guess."


	6. Chapter 6

Footsteps charged up the stairs, echoing off of the white walls. 

The Doctor shoved her things in pockets, grabbing Yaz's hand as they backed away from the door. She could feel the fear radiating from the companion in heat. "What are we going to do?" 

Glancing at Yaz, she took a deep breath, "run." It was like the whole world slowed down for a moment -the door burst open, a blurry figure she spotted from the corner of her eye, racing after them, carrying one hell of a gun. Through it all, the Doctor could feel Yaz's pulse pounding at the tips of her fingers as she held her wrist, pulling her desperately along. 

They weaved in and out of the different office cubicles, towards the double doors at the other side of the room. 

However, they didn't make it. 

Suddenly, another blurry figure in the haze of the chaos smashed through the wall of windows to their right, landing gracefully on their feet, letting go of the rope they'd used to swing down. 

Very dramatic. Yaz thought, even though she knew it really wasn't the best time, or place, to be snarky. 

The Time Lord released Yaz's hand to avoid pulling her in to the path of glass. Just as she had predicted, the figure crashed in to her, sending them both to the ground, their hands at either side of the Doctor's head, which banged against the hard floor with a nasty thud, causing a pained groan to pass her lips and she closed her eyes.

Yaz halted, stepping backwards in shock. Now she hadn't expected that. Eyes widening, remembering the figure who had been chasing them, she whirled around just in time to meet them face to face. It was a man. 

Slowly opening her eyes, the Doctor immediately recognised the person looking back. 

"Hello, sweetie." 

Yaz smiled nervously, out of pure panic. But she relaxed when the man dropped his weapon so it hung around the strap across his shoulder. He held his hand out, flashing a Cheshire smile. 

"Captain Jack Harkness. Nice to meet you." 

Too bewildered to talk, Yaz shook his hand, hers shaking. 

The Doctor just gazed up at River, who had an unruly mass of blonde curls, sparkling green eyes and a beautiful face that could charm the pants off anyone. 

"River?" She cracked a grand smile, not believing what she was seeing. "But-" 

River shook her head, "later, my love." Getting up off of the floor, she held a hand out for her wife, who gladly took it, rising to her feet. Then she noticed Jack and her smile grew even more, if that was possible. "Jack!" 

"Long time no see, Doctor." He grinned, squishing her in a bear hug, lifting her up off of the ground and spinning around. When he placed her back on the floor, Yaz wandered up to them, totally puzzled. "You've aged well." Jack joked. 

"Who-who are these people?" Yaz barely whispered, shooting a confused look at the Doctor. Two complete strangers just crashed in, she deserved a decent explanation. Yaz would have folded her arms across her chest in annoyance, but it was too uncomfortable in the room. So she settled for standing awkwardly as she fiddled with the zip on her leather jacket. 

"Right, yes, sorry," the Doctor beamed, gesturing to the woman first, then the man. "This is River and Captain Jack Harkness." 

Nodding, Yaz accepted the hand River extended to her, shaking it. "Hi . . . the Doctor usually doesn't mention people from her past . . ." 

Frowning, River draped her arm over the Doctor's shoulder. "Oh, I thought she would have mentioned me . . . after all . . . I am her wife." 

Wife? Yaz raised her eyebrows, although attempted to conceal her shock anyway. "Yeah . . . you think she would've." 

Jack whipped a spare gun from his holster, handing it to Yaz. "You will need this-" 

"You know I don't like guns." The Time Lord scowled, not even surprised when River pulled out one of her own. "Hey-" 

"There's more than just unused space junk down there. Earlier I did a full scan and guess what's-" 

He had no time to finish as River noticed a mob of Torchwood's soldiers began crowding in, all aiming guns. She grabbed the Doctor and Yaz's shoulder, pulled them to the ground as they ducked out of the way. Jack stayed standing as bullets sped across the room from both sides. 

"What's he doing?" Yaz exclaimed, "he's going to get killed." 

"You would think so." The Doctor smirked, though it faded when she remembered Bad Wolf. 

Jack ducked down, sitting against a desk chair, "There's a lot of them." He let out a dry laugh, messing with the settings on the gun, putting it on full power. 

Yaz jumped as a bullet shot past her shoulder, skimming her leather jacket and smashing in to the leg of a desk next to the Doctor, who nearly jumped out of her skin. 

"That was close." She said, raising her eyebrows, smiling at Yaz, who didn't exactly feel like smiling. Some day she knew she would like these moments in the adventures too, the adrenaline when running from danger was awesome, but sitting in the middle of life threatening danger wasn't the best. 

Jack jumped back up, continuing to fight.

-

Soon, the gun fire stopped and Jack let out a howl of victory. "Its safe now; they're all down." 

Yaz spoke up, "what? They're all dead? How did you-" 

"No," Jack interjected, "our friend here doesn't like weapons, so I brought a powerful stun gun. No one dead, happy Doctor." He swung it over his shoulder, adjusting the strap. 

The Time Lord beamed, River got distracted for a second -she wasn't used to this face. 

"That's right." The Doctor said. "Your gun is acceptable. Although you should have told me first. I was about to violently shout at you-" she took a deep breath, "anyway, back to business. What were you-?"  

The conversation was moving so fast, Yaz still had unanswered questions. "Wait." She put a hand over the Doctor's mouth, earning a small laugh from River. "How are you not dead? I know those were real guns." 

"A long time ago," he started, glancing quickly in the Doctor's direction to check it was okay to say, which it was, "there was a fight with me, the Doctor, the Daleks and this wonderful girl named Rose-" at those words Yaz saw the Tims Lord tense, River squeezed her hand to calm her down. "Of course, the Doctor sent her home to ensure she was safe, Rose disagreed and found a way to get back. But it involved her looking in to the Time Vortex. No one should ever do that, by the way.

"I had died in battle, but Rose brought me back. Made me immortal, apparently." 

Yaz's immediate response in her head was: really? Cool. Although she didn't think that would go well in these circumstances. Not knowing how at all to respond, she just nodded. 

"We should go." River suggested in a soft voice, one arm around the Doctor, who had her head hung, hair over her face so Yaz couldn't see. "They probably heard the gun shots, more will be on their way up here." 

"Right." Jack sprang forwards first, married couple following, Yaz trailed behind, staring at the floor in thought. 

Sometimes she hated time travel.


	7. Chapter 7

All four of them barged in to a door, shoving it open and then slamming it shut, blocking out the Torchwood soldiers charging after them. River searched around, finding a big piece of scrap metal and shoving it through the handles, securing their safety a little more. 

They'd been peacefully minding their own business -sort of- on their way down in a lift to the fifteenth floor underground, again. The Tardis, Graham and Ryan had to be down there -it was where everything else alien was. 

While they were cruising past the other floors, out of nowhere the lift changed direction, no one had pressed the buttons, and they'd gone gliding back up to the tenth floor. Still underground but five levels above where they needed to be. 

After that it was kind of a merge as they'd managed to venture through the hallways and dash through combining rooms. Eventually, they'd managed to find the room where all the useless space junk was kept. Previously, it'd been bolted and locked, but the Doctor's sonic screwdriver had taken care of that. 

Now, they all landed heavily as they sat down with their backs to the double doors, staring at the space rejects in front of them. 

"Are we safe?" Yaz asked, resting her head against the wood.

"Should be." The Doctor replied. "For now." 

"How reassuring." The companion rolled her eyes, watching as River was the first to get up and walk around the room -she had a device in her hands that Yaz didn't know the name of, although it seemed like a sonic screwdriver, but with a screen. "What are you doing?"

"Seeing if anything here is useful." River answered. 

Jack stood up, heading to the other side of the room where there was another door. Glancing back, he winked at the Doctor, "lock the door behind me." He ordered, then left, guns high. Luckily there were no immediate needs for firing. 

"Right." The Doctor slapped her hands on her knees as she arose, striding over to Yaz and slinging her arm around her. "Minor setback. Jack is clearing the way for us, we should be down to Ryan, Graham and my Tardis soon."

"What about Torchwood?" Yaz questioned, not being able to meet the Doctor's eyes. She kept darting her eyes away, fiddling with the blue strap of her braces as she bit down on her lip. 

River spoke for her, sliding the device she had in to a holster. "They won't hold for very long. This room is built so whatever is in here can't get out, but they can get in . . . I'd give us five minutes, ten if they're generous." 

"That's . . . reassuring." Yaz muttered. 

"Let's hope Jack is here in time, yeah? Positive side of things." The Time Lord forced a smile, but Yaz could see right through it. 

She guessed River could too because she put an arm around the Doctor, whispering something in to her ear that seemed to cheer her up a bit. 

Four minutes, Yaz stressed, her gaze locked on the door Jack had disappeared through. Come on, where have you gone? 

On cue, Jack barged in, knelt down and messed with the settings on his gun. "It needs to recharge for a bit." He stated, falling back against the door in exhaustion. 

"How many are there?" River stepped forwards a little. She wasn't one to be frightened easily, and she wasn't going to start now. So she held her head high, a twinge of a smirk on her face. 

That's the River I miss. The Doctor thought, longingly gazing up at her -River was only an inch or two taller. 

Smiling, Jack got to his feet, swinging his gun around his shoulder. "That's the best part, there aren't any."

The Doctor practically skipped over to the door, "let's go get the rest of the gang -team Tardis!" Cheering, she disappeared in to the light, River and Yaz chasing after her with smiles on their faces for the same reason. Pausing a moment longer, Jack watched as the doors were finally beaten down and Torchwood swarmed in. Slamming the door, Jack followed suit.

-

They had flown down flights of stairs, passed a few levels and Yaz was starting to feel the numbing sensation that came with a mix of panic and excitement. She could never get used go that rush. 

"In here!" The Doctor shouted, running over to a door in the far corner of the room. There were no more stairs to go down, they'd made it back. 

The Time Lord yanked it open, her face taking on a terrified expression for a second, then slammed it shut and pressed her back against it. "Okay, not in here." 

"What is it?" River asked, curiously. 

They all looked up as boots thundered their way down the stairs too. The mystery forgotten.

"This one!" Jack called, already having checked what was behind the door. Thankfully this one was clear. He held the door open with one hand, the other trying to lift his gun to shoot at Torchwood soldiers. 

Hesitantly, Yaz rushed through, followed by River, who was holding the Doctor's hand until the Time Lord let go, taking Jack's place in keeping the door open. "I'll do this while you hold them off, shoot them if you must. Yaz, River, my two favourite people-" 

"Hey!" Jack whined jokingly. 

"You know where you stand Jack, you're one of the best immortals. Now," she continued, not getting side tracked, "you two go and find the Tardis, Ryan and Graham." She chucked River her sonic screwdriver, "use this when you do. I'll here it."

It got harder to hear each other talking when bullets started flying everywhere, Jack joining in. They pinged off the walls, making them duck to the floor at various moments.

"You better be safe, my love." 

"Always." The Doctor grinned, her smile vanishing as soon as Yaz and River were out of sight. Taking a deep breath, she dug the crystal from her inside pocket. The yellow glow was steadily growing brighter. A faint smile tugged at the Doctor's lips and she gripped the crystal tighter.

"They're coming closer, Doctor." Jack yelled, backing away from the swarm of Torchwood soldiers, towards their exit. 

"Come on, then." The Time Lord urged, gesturing for him to get a move on. A huge army ready to attack, she could see them now. As she glared up at them, they were only a couple if metres away and Jack ran past her, reaching for her hand as the Doctor began to follow, only to be harshly pulled back by a fierce grip on the hood of her coat. 

A shock of pain travelled up her spine as her back hit the concrete, the air being knocked out of her lungs. 

"Im sorry, Doctor. We're coming for you!" Jack yelled, shutting the door and bolting it. However the soldiers no longer tried at the door, they marched back through the exit that the team hadn't been able to pass through, and filed out. 

By the time the Doctor's sight had stopped whirling and blurring, there were only four soldiers left. Two of them grabbed her arms, yanked her up to her feet and forced her stand, even though the Doctor felt like her legs would give out any second. But she managed to raise her head and look directly at the solider in front of her, "what are you gonna do?" She coughed, letting out a small laugh. "Nothing you could try won't amount to the horror that's coming to you." She sounded so confident.

The soldier scoffed, "and what's that?" He pointed his gun at her chest, convinced but doing his best at hiding it. He'd heard stories about the Doctor, how you shouldn't underestimate her. 

The Time Lord didn't allow herself to stutter or break eye contact. "You haven't met my wife. I guarantee she won't be too happy about this. You might want to start running. Now."


	8. Chapter 8

They only got so far before a sinking feeling rested on her chest and she stopped abruptly, turning back to glance at River and Jack, who halted too. "Where's the Doctor?" Yaz didn't want to think what she was thinking.

The other two shared a look, River knew exactly what had happened and she hated the Doctor for staying behind. 

Reluctantly, Jack shuffled forward a bit, dropping his gun over his back and taking the strap across his shoulder. "She didn't make it, but we're going to find her too." 

Holding up the sonic screwdriver, River smiled as an idea popped in to her head. "She said if we used this, she could hear it and find it. What if we can reverse that to find her?" 

"Brilliant." Jack cheered, a bright light of hope also flashing in Yaz's eyes.

-

"What the hell?" He asked himself, no one in the room to talk to . . . But no one in the room to catch him snooping either. That's if he could get out of the ropes that bound his hands together around the back of the chair. It was extremely uncomfortable and the rope scratched his wrists, so he did his best not to move. 

Ryan stared at the door the whole time he'd been there, waiting for it to open. Waiting for the rest of 'team Tardis' to show up and help. He saw no use in shouting because he figured he was on the final floor. 

Luckily, he'd found the Tardis with it being right next to him. Although that was no use in his current predicament. The most he could do was stare at the Tardis doors and the walls between him and Torchwood.

So he was beyond glad when the blu double doors opened and Graham stepped out, looking both ways, making sure no one was there. 

"They're all gone?" 

Ryan nodded. 

"Good," he paused, "while you were out, the Tardis started shaking and moving about so I thought you were all back in the control room, but no one was there.

"It stopped shaking about half an hour later, which was when I thought to actually look out and see what was going on. Turns out we bloody moved. Then people came at me with guns-" 

Sighing, Ryan struggled at his restraints. "I know, we tracked you to here. How are you safe in there? Cant thry get in?" 

"They tried to open the doors but they failed every time." Graham smirked, suddenly grateful for the blue box. 

After moments of silence and expectant looks, Graham finally caught on. "A little help here?" Ryan deadpanned. 

"Oh right, yeah." He walked over, undying the rope around Ryan's wrists. They fell to the floor as Ryan stood, quickly ducking in to the Tardis with Graham as Torchwood footsteps started to approach.  
-

Yaz had admit, River was a fabulous person. She'd managed to reverse the sonic screwdriver, track the Doctor and do it under five minutes. "You have to teach me that." 

"I will because trust me, you'll need. She always goes disappearing. Though not usually like this." River replied. Not looking up from the sonic screwdriver, she wandered past Jack and Yaz, making the way out of the room, along a corridor and stopped. The other two quickly caught up. "Should be in there." River nodded to the doors on her left. 

"Alright. How are we doing this?" Jack smirked, readying his gun. 

While the other two were pretty confident, she was not. So she stood behind them. Not hiding, of course. 

". . . Three!" River shouted, kicking the door nearly off its hinges. 

Now Yaz definitely wanted to know how to do that. 

They were suprised when it was only the woman stood in the centre of two armed soldiers either side, one familiar blue box beside them, an empty chair and rope sat before them. The woman really didn't look to pleased. "Drop your gun." She ordered simply, her eyes locked on their every move. 

River didn't bother dropping her weapons, neither did Jack. 

Rolling her eyes, with a flick of the wrist, eight loaded guns were instantly trained on them. "They're ready to fire, so don't try to escape. It won't work." 

"Where's the Doctor?" Yaz's voice came out more high pitched and quieter than she would've preferred. "Where are Ryan and Graham?" 

"You tell me." Then the woman realised. "Ryan and who?"

Oh crap, Yaz thought. They hadn't known about Graham. "Never mind." Suddenly, something caught her eye. She drowned out everyone's voices as Jack, River and the woman began arguing, basically shooting at each other with words. Staring at the blue box, Yaz squinted, seeing a head poke out from the doors, then a hand, then another head and another hand. 

Ryan and Graham were pointing guns at Torchwood. 

Jack and River must have noticed too because when Ryan yelled "now!" they all ducked down and the two heroes started shooting the Torchwood soldiers down one by one. It was too loud to hear anything else. 

\- 

"Hey, Yaz." Ryan's voice came from her right, a comforting hand on her shoulder as she slowly rose from crouching down, glancing around at the scene before them. "It's okay." 

"Did . . . are they dead?" 

Ryan switched his gaze once between Yaz and the bodies on the floor, "no." He grinned. "We had time to search the Tardis. We found stun guns on the second floor, thought they'd come in handy so we grabbed them and waited with our ears to the door. Torchwood were in here talking and guess what." 

"What?" Yaz smiled too.

"We found out where the Doctor is." 

-

A defeated expression crossed River's face for a split second before anyone saw it. "I don't understand." She turned to Jack, who was as confused as her. "It said she'd be here, the sonic said she'd be here." As she stood motionless, only here eyes scanning the room, she allowed herself to be hugged by jack as he wrapped his arms around her. 

"We'll find her, I promise." 

On cue, a stranger ran over to them, Yaz by his side. 

"We know where the Doctor is." Ryan started, having been filled in by Yaz about who they were. Shocked at first that the Doctor had a wife, then he wasn't so surprised. 

\- 

Even though her eyes felt heavy and the rope around her wrists were tight enough to bleed, she kept her aching head held high and a blank expression on her face. Nothing about her situation was comfortable, at all. Being chased by a Dalek would have been nicer. And she knew how vicious they could be. 

For what felt like days, they'd been scanning her brain, causing different reactions to certain things to see how it worked. They'd cut her arm, taken blood, tested it. The results weren't back yet, and she had to destroy them before they did. God knows what they could achieve from it. The wound stung like nails pricking her skin continuously. 

Fortunately, Torchwood had gone, leaving her alone. 

With as much effort as she could, the Time Lord attempted to slip out of the restraints, which had her hands tied above her head. Unluckily, no avail. 

The last of her unconsciousness was about to drift away from her when the metal door burst open, River crashing through with the sonic screwdriver in her grip. Yaz was stood close behind, staring wide eyed at what they'd done to their favourite Doctor. 

"I've got you, my love." River whispered, rushing over and freeing her wife from the ropes. The Doctor collapsed in to her arms, eyes closed and body limp. Gently, River lowered her to the floor, brushing strands of hair from her face. 

A faint glowing from veins directed their attention to her hands. Golden spirals decorated her skin and Yaz just stared, not knowing what to do, while River gently lowered the Doctor's head and stood back with Jack, who was advising Yaz to do the same. Which she didn't. "We can't just leave her. What's happening?" 

They heard the doors slam, Ryan and Graham pushing back against it. "They know we're here." 

Taking deep breaths, River tried to concentrate. Seeing the Doctor like this was hard every time, even though she knew what was to come. "Don't worry," she called over her shoulder, "the Doctor'll take care of that." 

"What's that mean?" Ryan questioned, puzzled written across his face. He would never understand these people, they always spoke in code. 

"She's regenerating."


End file.
